UCLA Football Falls Behind Early, Can't Make Up Ground in Loss to Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — The shorthanded Bruins once again failed to come through in a big moment in Salt Lake City.
It wasn’t the blowout it was in 2019, but UCLA football (5-4, 3-3 Pac-12) still lost to Utah (5-3, 4-1) by several scores, dropping Saturday’s showdown 44-24. Things got messy early and stayed that way for most of the night, and a short-lived comeback attempt wound up being far from enough to make up the gap.
The Bruins were without three starters – right tackle Alec Anderson, linebacker Caleb Johnson and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Ethan Garbers started in Thompson-Robinson’s place after entering in relief for an injured Thompson-Robinson against Oregon seven days earlier.
Regardless of who was playing quarterback, the offense got enough production to stay in it for a solid chunk of the game, but defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro’s unit was as porous as ever from the opening moments Saturday night.
"We put ourselves in a hole in the first half," said coach Chip Kelly.
The Utes’ first three drives all went 75 yards and ended in a touchdown, and the defense was on track to put up its worst numbers of the season. The Bruins’ offense managed to keep pace early on, however, getting a field goal and touchdown on their first two drives.
Right after quarterback Cameron Rising threw his first touchdown pass of the night though, Garbers answered by throwing a pick. That set Utah up with a short field, and they made the most of it when running back Tavion Thomas trudged forward for his third score of the game.
UCLA trailed 28-10 midway through the second quarter, on the verge of being blown out after going three-and-out on their next drive too.
The defense, for all its faults, managed to step up and slow the bleeding a bit. The Utes went three consecutive drives without picking up points, gaining 3.5 yards per play in that stretch after averaging 8.6 on their first four drives. Even after the Utes scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Bruins forced a punt the next time out.
UCLA used that improved stretch by the defense to narrow the gap, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the third and fourth quarters. The gap had been closed to 11 points on two separate occasions, making it a smaller fourth-quarter deficit to erase than the one the Bruins faced against Oregon a week ago.
"We just kind of took a deep breath and just played our game," said linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath. "We came out slow, that's just not like us. Especially we don't let teams run the ball on us. Once we decided that enough was enough, we came out and started playing our type of football."
The comeback effort didn’t come nearly as close this time around, and they failed to dig themselves out of a hole yet again.
Right guard Atonio Mafi, who got mixed up with his assignments, let a man get into the pocket untouched and sack Garbers in the end zone for a safety. A failed onside punt gave Utah the ball near midfield, and they marched down into the end zone to put things away with 4:40 left to play.
It was Thomas who broke through again for the 24-yard dagger, marking the second week in a row that the highly-regarded Bruin run defense allowed an opposing running back to score four touchdowns. Utah rushed for 290 yards as a team, the most by a UCLA opponent this season.
"We had been a really good team against the rush coming into this game but we did not do a very good job against the rush tonight," Kelly said. "Obviously could not control the run game – they play two and three-tight-end sets and we did not do what we had to do defend their run game tonight."
In Thompson-Robinson’s absence, Garbers was 27-for-44 threw the air for 265 yards and two touchdowns. His one interception was deflected at the line of scrimmage, and he rushed for 36 yards on the ground.
Impressive debut or not, the Bruins still came up short.
"(My performance) was subpar because the biggest thing is getting that 'W' and getting the win, and we didn't pull it out," Garbers said. "I'm not satisfied with anything."
The Pac-12 South title is all but out of reach for UCLA now, with Utah and Arizona State both holding leads in the standings and head-to-head tiebreakers. The Bruins missed out on becoming bowl eligible for the second game in a row as well, and now have just three more chances to secure a .500 record for the first time under Kelly.
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